Web holding device for rewinder



Aug, '36, W66 F. I... VOLM E AL WEB HOLDING DEVICE FOR REWINDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 50, 1963 @l2f01'5 Wade,

F. L.. VOLM ET AL WEB HOLDING DEVICE FOR REWINDER Aug W, W66

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec 30, 1963 Aug. 16, 1966 F. L. VOLM ET AL 3,266,744

WEB HOLDING DEVICE FOR REWINDER Filed Dec. 50, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1966 F. 1.. VOLM ET AL WEB HOLDING DEVICE FOR REWINDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 50, 1963 Jae/2541's Ztxffazcie Fail/H United States Patent 3,266,744 WEE HULJ'DKNG DEVICE FER REWINDER Frank L. Volni and Ross C. Meade, De Pere, Win, as-

signors to Paper (Ionverting Machine Co., linc., Green Bay, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Dec. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 334,192 6 (llaims. (Cl. 24-2-64) This invention relates to a continuous winder (interchangeably termed rewinder), and, more particularly, to a web holding device for a two-spindle continuous winder.

In the reeling or winding of webs such as paper, plastic, etc., it is often necessary to develop jum bo rolls, i.e., rolls several feet long and several feet in diameter. These rolls may be developed continuously and alternately on a two-spindle rewinder at substantial speeds-of the order of hundreds of feet per minute. When one spindle has just about completed its winding cycle, the other spindle is brought into a position to pick up the web which is then severed and transferred to the empty spindle.

When the roll is being wound in the normal winding position, a rubber-covered rider roll is mounted on the same arm as the web severing knife, and performs the function of ironing out the air from underneath the web, thereby stabilizing the web in a horizontal manner, enabling the machine to wind 3. firm, accurate roll. Preparatory to indexing the nearly completed roll to the transfer position, this rider and knife combination must be lifted in order that the turret can be revolved. It is when this is done that the effective winding control of the Web is lost, and this is waste paper or film from this point to the actual severing of the web at transfer. It is in this area of waste that this invention enables the operation to resuit in a good, commercially acceptable product, including the normally wasted Web.

It will be appreciated that at the speeds involved, this wastage is appreciable, since normally it is scrap or rewound at considerable expense of time and money.

The need for a device to eliminate this waste has long been recognized. The device must be operable as the turret revolves in either direction, and cannot interfere with the web winding. The provision of such a device constitutes an important object of this invention.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device for use with a high speed rewinder wherein novel means control the finally wound portion of a severed web being wound into a jumbo roll.

Another object of the invention is to provide tail holddown means for a continuous two-spindle rewinder wherein the hold-down means advantageously smoothes the web being wound into the jumbo roll during spindle indexing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention may be seen in the details of construction and operation set down in this specification.

The invention is explained in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a two-spindle rewinder incorporating teachings of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the inventive apparatus such as would be seen along the sight line 22 applied to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, in fragmentary form and on enlarged scale, of the upper central portion of the showing in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a belt travel diagram such as would be seen along the sight line 4-4 applied to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the left upper portion of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the sight line 66 of FIG. 5;

Patented August 16, 1966 FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the sight line 77 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the sight line 8--8 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the sight line 9-9 of FIG. 1.

Operation generally Referring now to FIG. 1, the symbol 4 designates generally a web proceeding in the direction of the arrow 10 to be wound on a spindle 11. Once the roll developed on the spindle 11 reaches the diameter corresponding to the dashed line 12 of FIG. 2, a knife 13 (again see FIG. 1) severs the Web W so as to initiate the winding on the other spindle 1 1. This is without speed interruption, and when it is appreciated that the speeds attained are up to 1,000 feet per minute, it will be realized that a tail is developed on the roll symbolized by the numeral 12 in FIG. 2, which can be of considerable extent.

Continuing further with the basic machine design, and referring to FIG. 7, it will be seen that the numeral 15 designates the upper portion of a two-piece bearing in which the journal 16 of the spindle 11 is carried. By pivoting the upper portion 15 of the bearing to the dotted line position designated 15a, it is possible to remove the now-w0und spindle 11 by means of a crane or other device so as to insert a new spindle and thus condition the Winder for a continuous operation.

Rewinder construction Referring again to FIG. 1, the numeral 17 designates generally the main frame of the rewinder which includes side frames 18 and 19 disposed respectively at the bottom and top of the first drawing sheet. Each side frame carries a massive bearing 20 and 21 in which a cross shaft 22 is rotatably mounted. It will be appreciated that the side frames 18 and 19 of the main frame 17 are rigidly interconnected by means of various cross members such as the beams 23 and 24 seen at the extreme left of FIG. 1. Other suitable beams not shown are also employed for this purpose.

The cross shaft 22 carries a cradle generally designated 25, which in turn provides the subframe for mounting the spindles 11 and 14. The cross shaft 22 is rotated slowly so that near the end of a winding cycle the spindle being wound is positioned away from the source (not shown) of the web W and an empty spindle is positioned in ready condition for the next winding cycle. The Web W in coming from the paper machine or other source passes under a rubber-covered guide roll 13a associated with the knife 13.

The cross shaft 22 is equipped with a large gear 26 (see also FIG. 9) which is fixed in place by means of a key 27. The gear is rotated by means of a worm 28 coupled to a motor 29. Thus, energization of the motor 29 causes the cross shaft 22 to rotate, and with it the cradlelike subframe 25.

During this subframe rotation wherein the spindles 11 and 14 are orbiting relative to the cross shaft 22, means are provided for rotating the spindles 11 and 14 in the form of drive motors 30 and 31. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the motor 30 is equipped with a pulley 33 fixed to the pulley shaft 32. The pulley 33 is of the cog or tooth type, and carries a cog belt 33a. The belt 33a is coupled to an idler pulley 34, which is rotatably mounted on the cross shaft 22 by means of a bearing 35. The idler pulley 34 has also entrained on it an orbiting belt 36 which is connected to the driven pulley 37. The pulley 37 is fixed to the end 38 of the spindle 14. In like fashion, a driven pulley 39 is associated with the spindle 11, the driven pulley 32 being driven by means of a cog belt 40. The cog belt 40 is connected to one-half of an idler pulley 41, while the other half of the idler pulley as at 41a receives rotational power from a belt 42. As seen in FIG. 1, the belt 42 is entrained in a pulley 43 provided on the shaft 44 of the motor 31.

A schematic representation of the belting arrangement just described can be seen in FIG. 4, wherein the motor shafts 32 and 44 are identified, along with the spindle shaft ends 38 and 45, the latter being associated with the spindle 11. It is seen, therefore, that the motors 30 and 31 are stationary and provide a rotational output which is delivered to idler pulleys 34 and 41a, rotatably mounted on the cross shaft 22. The rotational outputs from the idler pulleys go to the orbiting spindles by means of the cog belts 40 and 36.

Reference to FIG. 3 also reveals that the subframe 25 near side frame 19 is equipped with suitable bearings as at 46 and 47 for rotatably mounting the spindles 11 and 14. It will be appreciated that the spindle, in the course of a winding cycle, has a decreasing speed characteristic to compensate for the increased diameter of the roll, while the fresh or empty spindle has an increasing speed characteristic just prior to the time transfer occurs. This is provided by the motors 30 and 31 which incorporate suit-able variable speed drives.

To remove the roll-equipped spindle, the subframe 25 near the side frame 18 has a two-piece bearing support 48, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In FIG. 7, the journal associated with the spindle 14 is designated 49 and the bearing support for this journal is designated 50. To split the bearing support 48 or 50, as the case may be, the hold-down wheel 51 is rotated on the eye bolt 52, after which the eye bolt 52 is pivotable about its mounting shaft 53 to the alternate position 52a, the eye bolt 52 normally being received within a slot 54 in the upper portion of the bearing 48. The journal 16 provided on the spindle 11 has an anti-friction bearing 16a which is confined by the bearing support 48. When the upper portion of the bearing support 48 is rotated to the 15a position of FIG. 7, the spindle 11 can be moved to the right in FIG. 8, thereby disengaging the slotted end 55 (still referring to FIG. 8) from its locking engagement with the cross pin 5511. Thus, the wound spindle is available for hoisting from the rewinder by means of a crane, or the like.

Web end portion control As the rewinder approaches the end of a given rewinding cycle, the wound spindle starts to move away from the knife and roll 13 and 13a, the roll 13a thereby being ineffective to control the web being wound.

Before the rider roll 13a-knife 13 combination is lifted and preparatory to indexing of the turret or cradle-like subframe 25, an air cylinder is actuated which in turn moves the auxiliary rider roll 56 associated with the spindle 11 into contact with the nearly completed roll of paper or film, and the auxiliary rider roll 56 stays in contact with the nearly completed roll while the turret and nearly completed roll are indexed into the transfer position and until the web transfer actually takes place. This contact continues until the air cylinder (to be described hereinafter) is actuated to remove the auxiliary rider roll from contact with the completed roll.

The auxiliary rider roll or cross roll generally designated 56 for the spindle 11 can be seen quite clearly in FIGS. 1 and 3. A similar auxiliary roll and general arrangement are provided relative to the spindle 14, and, for the sake of simplicity, the cor-responding portions of the tail control means for the spindle 14 have like numbers to those for the spindle 11 but for the addition of a prime Thus, the cross shaft for the spindle 14 is designated generally 56'.

The roll 56 is positioned by means of a cylinder and piston rod generally designated 57 (again see FIGS. 1-3). As can be appreciated from FIG. 3, the subframe in the area of the bearing 47 is equipped with a clip 58 carrying a pin 59 which is connected to the eye or clevis portion 60 extending away from the butt end of the cylinder 61. Reference to FIG. 2 shows that the cylinder 61 has its butt end attached to the bearing 46 associated with the spindle 11. In other words, the point of pivotally anchoring each cylinder and piston rod unit is on the hearing opposite'to the bearing carrying the spindle associated with the actuated cross shaft.

The manner in which the cylinder and piston rod units 57 and 57' control the rider rolls 56 and 56', respectively, can be seen best in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. In FIG. 2, and with reference only to the system associated with the spindle 11, the numeral 62 designates the piston rod associated with the unit 57, i.e., associated with the cylinder 61. The work of the piston rod 62 is coupled to a block 63 rotatably supporting a stabilizing shaft 64 by means of bearing 63a (see FIG. 6). In turn, the shaft 64 carries a bearing collar 65 providing a pinion gear 66. The end of the shaft 64 is supported in the subframe 25 by means of a cam follower roller 67.

The subframe 25 is also equipped with a rack 68 which is in tooth engagement with the pinion gear 66. Further, the subframe 25 is equipped with an elongated slot 69 which slidably receives the head of the cam follower roller 67 Reference to FIG. 1 reveals that the other end of the stabilizing shaft 64 is also equipped with a pinion gear as at 70, and that the subframe 50 provides a second rack as at 71. Thus, as the piston rod 62 is retracted, the pinion gear 66 travels on the rack 68 to move the stabilizing shaft 64 away from the spindle 11. Because of the interconnection between the stabilizing shaft 64 and the auxiliary rider roll 56 which will now be described, the roll 56 moves with the stabilizing shaft 64. Again, it will be appreciated that an identical arrangement is provided relative to the spindle 14, and for this purpose stabilizing shaft 64 (designated only in FIG. 1) is provided.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it is seen that the block 63 is equipped with extension bars 72 and 73 suitably secured thereto by means of bolts 74 and 75. At the extreme left end of FIG. 5, it is seen that the ends of the straps 72 and 73 carry an endpiece 76 suitably secured by means of bolts 77. The members 72 and 73 serve as guides for a slotted bearing block 78 which carries one end of the roll 56, i.e., the through-shaft 79 so designated in FIG. 5. Interposed between the bearing block 78 and the block 63 is a coil spring 80 permitting the roll 56 to move out of parallelism with the stabilizing shaft 64. A similar spring loading is provided for the other end of the roll 56 as at 81 in FIG. 1.

In operation, the cylinders 61 and 61 are connected to a source of compressed air and the piston rods 62 and 62 extended until the auxiliary rolls 56 and 56 ride on the increasing diameter jumbo rolls 12 and 12, respectively (see FIG. '2). As a given jumbo roll, for example 12, increases in diameter, the winding roll forces the auxiliary roll back. The pressure of the air supplied to the air cylinder is maintained by controls at a constant regardless of auxiliary roll position. This serves to move the block 63 away from the jumbo roll 12, the block 63 being rigidly coupled to the piston rod 62 by means of a threaded connection (not shown) and further secured by means of a lock nut 82. The block 63, in applying this retracting force to the stabilizing shaft 64, causes the pinion gear 66 to roll on the rack 68, the ends of the stabilizing shaft 64 being suitably guided by means of the cam follower rollers as at 67 being guided within the slots as at 69.

As the stabilizing shaft 64 moves away from the spindle 11, the endpieoe 76 necessarily moves the bearing block 78 in the same direction. The bearing block 78, in supporting the auxiliary roll 56, causes the roll to move in general parallelism with the stabilizing shaft 64the divergence from parallelism being provided by means of the coiled spring 80 which permits movement of the cross shaft and its end bearing block 78 away from the spindle Ill to compensate for any non-circularity of the jumbo roll 12. It will be appreciated that this departure from circularity will only be slight, so that the tolerance provided by the upper and lower slots 83 and 84 in the hearing block 78 is sufiicient for allowing this lack of paral lelism to take place.

In summary, the operation of the auxiliary rolls 56 and 56' includes ironing engagement with the associated jumbo Web rolls being wound on the spindles 11 and 14it being appreciated that only one spindle is being wound at any given time. As the particular spindle in question moves away from the rubber-covered roller 13a and thus manifests a tendency to become loosely and irregularly wound, the particular auxiliary roll 56 or 56, as the case may be, takes over to conserve the web of paper, plastic film, foil, etc., against wastage and this through the point of severance-it being appreciated that at this time a tail is necessarily developed which can fly about and which additionally is restrained by the ironing action of the auxiliary rider rolls 56 and 56'.

In this fashion, we are able to salvage several hundred feet of web which heretofore has been considered waste. Even though this amount of waste can be tolerated in a jumbo roll of several thousand feet, it is still desirable for the manufacturer to conserve as much of the web as possible. The conservation becomes increasingly important as the roll diameter is decreased for each winding cycle. Further, by positioning the hold-down mechanisms as shown relative to the two spindles on the cradle, the device is adapted for rotation or winding in either direction, the hold-down mechanisms being arranged to be out of transferring relation with the web irrespective of whether it is fed under or over the adjacent spindle.

While, in the foregoing specification, a detailed description of the invention has been set down for the purpose of explanation, many variations in the details herein given may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A continuous rewinder, comprising a frame, a spindle-equipped subframe rotatably mounted in said frame, means for orbiting said spindles to alternately Wind a web thereon, an auxiliary roll for each spindle mounted on said subframe for movement away from its associated spindle during the course of winding a web on said associated spindle, means for regulating the movement of said auxiliary roll, including a cylinder and piston rod unit pivotably secured at one end thereof to said subframe, a stabilizing shaft movably mounted in said subframe coupled to the other end of said cylinder and piston rod unit, guide means in said subframe for guiding the movement of said stabilizing shaft, and resilient means interconnecting said auxiliary roll and stabilizing shaft.

2. The structure of clam 1 in which said guide means includes a pinion gear on said stabilizing shaft and a rack on said subframe, said guide means also including a slot in said subframe arranged parallel to said rack, said stabilizing shaft being equipped with an end portion movably mounted within said slot.

3. A continuous rewinder, comprising a frame, a subframe rotatably mounted within said frame and equipped with a pair of spaced-apart spindles, means for delivering a web to said spindles for alternately developing jumbo rolls thereon, means for rotating said subframe to orbit said spindles and alternately position said spindles adjacent said web-delivering means to transfer the Winding of said web from one spindle to the other, a motor for each spindle associated with said frame and belt means coupling each motor to its associated spindle, each belt means including idler pulleys rotatably mounted on said subframe, a split bearing on said subframe for each spindle, means for selectively opening said split bearing to permit removal of the associated spindle from said subframe, an auxiliary roll movably mounted on said subframe for each spindle and adapted to bear against a web roll being developed by winding said web on its associated spindle, and means for resiliently urging said auxiliary roll against said web roll.

4. In winder apparatus, a frame, means for advancing a web toward said frame, a subframe journaled in said frame and carrying a pair of spindles disposed in parallel, spaced-apart relation, means for rotating said subframe to alternately position said spindles in web-winding position, an auxiliary roll movably mounted on said subframe for each spindle adapted to bear against a web roll being developed by Winding said web on its associated spindle, and means for urging said auxiliary roll against said web roll including spring means for positioning the axis of said auxiliary roll in various angular relations to the axis of its associated spindle.

5. In winder apparatus, a frame, means for advancing a web toward said frame, a subframe journaled in said frame and carrying a pair of spindle disposed in parallel, spaced-apart relation, means for rotating said subframe to alternately position said spindles in web-Winding position, an auxiliary roll movably mounted on said subframe for each spindle adapted to bear against a web roll being developed by winding said web on its associated spindle, and means for urging said auxiliary roll against said web roll including a cylinder and piston rod unit for each auxiliary roll, each of said piston rod units being pivotably secured at one end thereof to said subframe, and means coupling each unit to its associated auxiliary roll. 6. In winder apparatus, a frame, means for advancing a web toward said frame, a subframe journaled in said frame and carrying a pair of spindles disposed in parallel, spaced-apart relation, means for rotating said subframe to alternately position said spindles in web-winding position, an auxiliary roll movably mounted on said subframe for each spindle adapted to bear against a web roll being developed by winding said web on its associated spindle, and means for urging said auxiliary roll against said web roll including a cylinder and piston rod unit for each auxiliary roll, each of said piston rod units being pivotably secured at one end thereof to said subframe, means coupling each unit to its associated auxiliary roll, a stabilizing shaft movably mounted in said subframe coupled to the other end of said cylinder and piston rod unit, guide means in said subframe for guiding the movement of said stabilizing shaft, and resilient means interconnecting said auxiliary roll and stabilizing shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1934 Raiche 24256 4/1963 Zernov 242-56 

1. A CONTINUOUS REWINDER, COMPRISING A FRAME, A SPINDLE-EQUIPPED SUBFRAME ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME, MEANS FOR ORBITING SAID SPINDLES TO ALTERNATELY WIND WEB THEREON, AN AUXILIARY ROLL FOR EACH SPINDLE MOUNTED ON SAID SUBFRAME FOR MOVEMENT AWAY FROM ITS ASSOCIATED SPINDLE DURING THE COURSE OF WINDING A WEB ON SAID ASSOCIATED SPINDLE, MEANS FOR REGULATING THE MOVEMENT OF SAID AUXILIARY ROLL, INCLUDING A CYLINDER AND PISTON ROD UNIT PIVOTABLY SECURED AT ONE END THEREOF TO SAID SUBFRAME, A STABILIZING SHAFT MOVABLY MOUNTED IN SAID SUBFRAME COUPLED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID CYLINDER AND PISTON ROD UNIT, GUIDE MEANS IN SAID SUBFRAME FOR GUIDING THE MOVEMENT OF SAID STABILIZING SHAFT, AND RESILIENT MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID AUXILIARY ROLL AND STABILIZING SHAFT. 